Batoche (electoral district)

See also Batoche (former electoral district) and Batoche (N.W.T. electoral district)

Batoche is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in north central Saskatchewan and has an economy based primarily on mixed agriculture and farm implement manufacturing. Bourgault Industries in St. Brieux manufactures harrows, cultivators, ploughs. The Batoche area is where Louis Riel led his Metis people in an armed uprising against the Canadian government in 1885. Batoche National Historic Site is located in this constituency.

The largest communities are Birch Hills, Wakaw and Cudworth with populations of 935, 884 and 766, respectively. Smaller centres in the riding include the villages of St. Brieux, St. Louis, Lake Lenore, Duck Lake, Weldon and Middle Lake; and the town of Kinistino.

Constituency
A riding named Batoche was one of the original 25 constituencies created for the 1st Saskatchewan general election in 1905. It was redistributed and renamed Duck Lake for the 1908 election and abolished altogether before the 1912 general election.

Between 1912 and 1995, the riding of Kinistino covered much of the same territory previously and subsequently included in Batoche. The remaining territory was distributed between several different constituencies over the years, including Humboldt, Rosthern and Redberry.

The present Batoche riding was created by The Representation Act, 2002 (Saskatchewan) and was first contested in the 2003 general election. It was formed primarily from parts of Humboldt, Melfort-Tisdale and Saskatchewan Rivers, along with smaller areas of Prince Albert Carlton, Rosthern and Shellbrook-Spiritwood.

The riding's boundaries have changed little since 2003. Minor changes to the district's boundaries were made before the 2016 general election and similar adjustments will take effect for the next general election.